With the stage set Team Canada and Team USA faced off for the gold medal in the 2009-2010 World Juniors Hockey Championship. With the home team slightly favored to win, it appeared to be an uphill battle stopping Canada’s gold medal run.

When the tournament first kicked off, many were not sure what to expect from the Team Usa while most projected the Canadians a lock for the gold medal game. The scoring went as follows:

Canada 1 – USA 0

USA 1 – Canada 1

USA 2 – Canada 2

USA 3 – Canada 2

Canada 3 – USA 3

With the score knotted at three, starter Mike Lee pulled in favor of 17-year-old 2010 draftee Jack Campbell. The latter posted a 1-1 record with a 2.40 GAA and a .912 SV% with 1 SO in the tournament. Lee just let in 3 goals on 7 shots.Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this afternoon, Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke discussed numerous topics on Leafs Lunch – Leafs Nation Edition with Dennis Bayak. With the Leafs playing much better than their winless start, they may make some noise during the trade deadline or as Burke alluded to before it.

Personally I have always admired Burke’s honesty in discussing his teams. He usually gives his fans a perspective on what he plans to do while playing his cards close to the chest. The GM of the 2010 Team USA program also announced he will release the roster on Monday, December 28th.

Lets break down some of the topics discussed.

On the State of the Team

Thinks the playoffs are realistic and notes the team work ethic has been great to date.

Reemphasized not winning their first seven games really hurt their chances of climbing the standings.

Would like to see both goalies healthy and in rhythm. Wants two weeks with both Jonas Gustavsson and Vesa Toskala healthy so he can assess the situation and rely on one of them down the stretch.